Uzza, The Ark of Covenant And The Tale of Sisters Nicki And Tasha

By Oladejo Abiodun

And God killed Uzza! Well-meaning Uzza died because he tried to save the Ark of Covenant from breaking into pieces. Like many people, I’ve been troubled about how God would repay his service with death. So, two days ago, I stumbled on why.

And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.
1 Chronicles 13:9‭-‬10 KJV

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord , that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.
1 Chronicles 15:2‭, ‬11‭-‬14‭, 25 – 26

The whole chapter will be most beneficial.

Now to the tale of Sister Nicki Minaj and Sister Tasha Cobbs. I usually don’t enjoy posting on Facebook anymore but I’m pressed to say something about the raging arguments about the rightness or otherwise of Tasha Cobbs featuring a worldly singer and a nudist of renown, Nicki Minaj, in a so-called gospel song. I’d be hypocritical if I acted surprised. Kirk Franklin did songs with R. Kelly and Kanye West, Kim Burrell with Pharell William and Whitney Houston, Tim Godfrey with Skale, even Beyonce slayed her bum shorts in “When Jesus Says Yes” song. So Tasha Cobbs and Nicki Minaj is nothing new. I remember when R. Kelly did “You Saved Me”, I was overjoyed. I assumed he’d been saved till a friend showed me his recent video where nudity was freely displayed.

The issue for me is how low the Church has come. There is no clearcut demarcation between the sacred and profane. Our sound in church is the same as the world’s. As a much younger fellow, I saw secular singers pick church songs and turn them around but now church songs are inspired by secular songs and sound. Where we are is terrible. Christians freely sing worldly songs. So what does it matter if we have collaboration with secular singers? Christians watch pornography, commit sexual sins, steal, lie. There is sin on the pulpit and in the pew. Are we any better than people like Nicki Minaj? Little wonder our affinity with the world. Whereas the scripture has this to say about us:

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

I’ve heard the basest of arguments justifying this collaboration and I feel very sorry for us. Some say the song will reach more people than Tasha can reach by herself. Some say Nicki may just have been thinking about being born again. Is it not because of trying to “reach” more people that our praise has become less effective than it used to? It’s also “very clear” how many souls the previous collaborations have won. Those collaborations are purely driven by market. Those guys are still producing their filths and glamourizing sins. I’m even sickened by the idea that because a big name gets saved, he or she automatically becomes a ministry material. Where is the place of God calling one? Discipleship? What we do is deeply spiritual and it requires understanding. And this is one of the reasons why people are making a shipwreck of ministry and church governance. Your repentance is not tantamount to ministry. No person’s repentance is superior to another person’s. It’s a case of sinners repenting. So your repenting is not any special. If God now chooses to call, so be it. Hebrews 5:4 says: And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

A few years ago, Pastor Adeboye fired an RCCG
Pastor that invited Pasuma, an Alhaji and a Fuji singer, as a guest singer in a crusade. He pulled crowd. Yes! But to what end? Our backsliding has been gradual and that’s why we’re not very aware. Our values have been consistently shifting because rather than commit to the Word, we commit to the world. It’s a pity the shameful collaboration is being supported by the clergy and laity alike. A lot of young people today are confused and spiritually infantile because the line between the church and world is so fine that they can’t differentiate. We need to reinstall the ancient landmark. We need to curtail this over liberalization of our faith.

While we should love sinners and relate with them with the intent of saving them, we can’t be joined to them. We can’t desecrate the Ark of Covenant committed to our care. We’re the temples of God. I pray that these people will come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ and be joint heirs with us. Whilst they remain tools in the hands of the devil, churning out materials that are weakening and challenging the very foundation of our faith, they should stay off sacred service. I also pray that we’ll have more gospel music ministers than gospel music artistes.

Thank you for your time.

Abiodun Oladejo.

Email: olad007@gmail.com

Twitter: @OladejoAbiodun

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